Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue. Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit. Currently, if you’re stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level. How to play Pips If you’ve ever played dominoes, you’ll…

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you remember your childhood games. As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans. Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can…

At present, I think the best Windows laptop for most people is the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 powered by the Snapdragon X Elite chip. It’s a stylish workhorse with enough power to handle demanding workloads and has a premium build as well as an amazing all-day battery life (outdone by just two other models). Even the M4 MacBooks can’t keep up. Beyond that, I have other picks for users with different budgets, use cases, and design preferences. I chose my picks based on hands-on testing conducted by myself and other Mashable staff and contributors. We’ve reviewed dozens of PCs…

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine. There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters…

SAVE UP TO 78%: If you commit to a two-year plan, you can save up to 78% on ExpressVPN and get four extra months for free. It’s one of the best VPNs for streaming sports — including the NFL. ExpressVPN deals: ExpressVPN Basic (2-year subscription + 4 months) $78.18 (save $285.54) Get Deal ExpressVPN Standard (2-year subscription + 4 months) $100.58 (save $291.14) Get Deal ExpressVPN Pro (2-year subscription + 4 months) $167.78 (save $391.94) Get Deal A VPN hides your real IP address and connects you to a secure server in another location. It may not be the most…

James Austin Johnson doing Donald Trump in Saturday Night Live’s cold open. Name a more iconic duo. Or, depending on who you ask, a more overplayed one. Either way, Johnson’s Trump impression once again kicked off Saturday night with a brand-new fictional awards show: The Trumps. The premise was exactly what it sounds like. Much like Trump’s being given the Nobel Peace Prize second-hand or FIFA creating an entire award just for him, the Trumps exist solely to celebrate Trump, by Trump, for Trump. Among the evening’s “prestigious” honors were Best Picture and Best Kiss, both of which Trump, unsurprisingly,…

When shopping for a Valentine’s Day gift for the woman in your life, remember that romance doesn’t stem from the amount of money you spend (or the number of stems in the bouquet). The real sparks fly when your gift shows that you pay attention. Think about what type of gift could satisfy her latest obsession, or what type of gift could alleviate her latest pet peeve. Of course, heart-shaped or romantic Valentine’s Day gifts are never a bad idea — we’re just here to make sure they’re not too cliché. Here are our picks for the best Valentine’s Day gifts…

TL;DR: Get more done with this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license, now $34.97 (reg. $219.99) until Feb. 22. Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License $34.97 $219.99 Save $185.02   Get Deal From creating a standout resume to building a budget or drafting an invoice, there are some tasks that are just easier on your PC. If you’re looking to make them even easier, a Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license can help. Now you can own eight powerful Microsoft tools for life for just $34.97 (reg.…

TL;DR: Live stream Denver Nuggets vs. Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN. It’s been an action packed week of NBA action for both the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies, with multiple games played across a number of arenas. But this Sunday afternoon fixture should favor the Nuggets, who are riding high in the Western Conference while the Grizzles are scrambling in the bottom half. Can the Grizzlies pull off an unexpected win? Or will the Nuggets notch up another victory…

TL;DR: Live stream Rams vs. Seahawks for free on TVNZ+. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN. We’re at a crucial stage in the NFL playoffs, as the Conference Championship games go down this weekend. In the NFC Championship game, the Los Angeles Rams clash with the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams, the No. 5 seed, have had an exciting playoff run and defeated the Chicago Bears in overtime drama. But they’ll face the toughest competition in the entire conference. The Seahawks are the No. 1 seed and they absolutely dominated the San Francisco 49ers in…